Method and apparatus for activating compound semiconductor

ABSTRACT

A compound semiconductor is placed in a reaction vessel ( 12 ) of which the inner gas is subjected to replacement with a low-vapor-pressure gas ( 2 ) whose equilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point of the compound semiconductor is 1 atm or lower. The low-vapor-pressure gas is urged to flow along the surface of the compound semiconductor while keeping the internal pressure of the reaction vessel at a value not lower than that equilibrium vapor pressure. The surface of the compound semiconductor is irradiated with a pulsed-laser light ( 3 ) whose photon energy is higher than the band gap of the compound semiconductor. Thus, only that part of the compound semiconductor which is located at the pulsed-laser light irradiation position is instantly heated and melted while keeping the atmospheric temperature of the low-vapor-pressure gas at a room temperature or a temperature equal to or lower than the decomposition temperature.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus foractivating a compound semiconductor in which the activity of thecompound semiconductor can be improved by melting the compoundsemiconductor having a high melting point at a normal pressure or a lowpressure close to the normal pressure, and slowly and gradually coolinga molten liquid.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, a semiconductor device using a GaN-based material such as ablue light emitting diode (LED), a white LED, a blue-violetsemiconductor laser (LD), or a high frequency device has been attracted.

The GaN-based semiconductor device is realized by heteroepitaxial growthof a GaN-based thin film deposited on a substrate formed of siliconcarbide (SiC) or sapphire by an organic metal vapor phase epitaxy(MOVPE) method or a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. In this case,since the thermal expansion coefficients and the lattice constants ofthe GaN-based thin film and the substrate are significantly differentfrom each other, dislocation (that is, a defect) having high density of10⁹ cm⁻² or more occurs in the GaN-based thin film.

Meanwhile, in order to fabricate the white LED, the blue-violetsemiconductor laser (LD), and the high frequency device, the developmentof a high-quality GaN substrate having dislocation density of 10⁴ cm⁻²or less is required and various technologies have been developed invarious research institutions (for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and2).

Non-Patent Document 1 is a research report on GaN crystal growth by amolten liquid growth method, in which it was confirmed by experimentsthat, when GaN is congruently melted without decomposition at a nitrogenpressure of 6 GPa (about 60,000 atm) or more and a high temperature of2220° C. or above and the molten liquid is cooled, the molten liquid isreversibly returned to a GaN crystal phase.

Non-Patent Document 2 is a research report on GaN crystal growth by aflux method, in which it was confirmed by experiments that high-qualityGaN crystal can be grown under growth conditions of a temperature of800° C. and a nitrogen pressure of 5 MPa (about 50 atm).

A method for activating an impurity ion implanted layer forsemiconductor such as SiC or GaN is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

In the “method for activating the impurity ion implanted layer” ofPatent Document 1, laser light whose photon energy is equal to or higherthan the photon energy (transition energy between band gaps) of asemiconductor material is irradiated to the semiconductor material, towhich predetermined impurity elements are doped by ion implantation, ina state in which the semiconductor material is heated.

[Non-Patent Document 1]

-   Wataru UTUMI, et al., “A new method for congruent melting gallium    nitride at a high pressure and growing single crystal”, Spring-8    user information, January, 2004

[Non-Patent Document 2]

-   Shoji SARAYAMA, et al., “High-quality crystal growth of gallium    nitride by a flux method”, Ricoh Technical Report No. 30, December,    2004

[Patent Document 1]

-   Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-289550,    “A method for activating an impurity ion implanted layer”

Since the melting point of GaN is approximately 2220° C. or more and theequilibrium pressure with nitrogen gas at this melting point reachesabout 6 GPa (about 60,000 atm) or more, GaN decomposes to Ga metal andnitrogen gas at a high temperature under a low-pressure nitrogenatmosphere and thus single crystal growth means for obtaining singlecrystal by slowly cooling the molten liquid performed by silicon or thelike cannot be applied.

Although the GaN crystal can be grown by the molten liquid growth methodof the Non-Patent Document 1, there has been a problem that since thenitrogen pressure of 6 GPa (about 60,000 atm) or more and the hightemperature of 2220° C. or more are required, an ultra-hightemperature/ultra-high pressure durable apparatus is required.

In the flux method of Non-Patent Document 2, the equilibrium vaporpressure at a temperature of 600 to 800° C. can be reduced to severaltens of atm, but a high-pressure device is required.

As in Patent Document 1, even when silicon carbide or gallium nitride isannealed by pulsed-laser light, melting cannot be performed at a vacuumatmosphere or a nitrogen atmosphere. Thus, it is difficult to accomplishhigh-quality crystal growth.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is contrived to solve the above-describedproblems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide amethod and an apparatus for activating a compound semiconductor in whichthe activity of the compound semiconductor can be improved by meltingthe compound semiconductor having a high melting point, such as GaN,without decomposition, at a normal pressure or a low pressure close tothe normal pressure and by slowly cooling a molten liquid.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod for activating a compound semiconductor, which includes the stepsof: placing the compound semiconductor in a reaction vessel; replacingatmosphere in the reaction vessel with a low-vapor-pressure gas whoseequilibrium vapor pressure at a melting point of the compoundsemiconductor is one atmospheric pressure or lower; causing thelow-vapor-pressure gas to flow along a surface of the compoundsemiconductor while keeping an internal pressure of the reaction vesselat a value equal to or higher than the equilibrium vapor pressure; andirradiating a pulsed-laser light whose photon energy is higher than aband gap of the compound semiconductor to the surface of the compoundsemiconductor, thereby permitting only a part of the compoundsemiconductor located at an irradiation position of the pulsed-laserlight to be melted while allowing an atmospheric temperature of thelow-vapor-pressure gas to be kept at a room temperature or a temperaturenot higher than a decomposition temperature.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus for activating a compound semiconductor, the apparatusincluding: a reaction vessel configured to receive therein the compoundsemiconductor under an airtight state; a gas supplying device configuredto supply low-vapor-pressure gas whose equilibrium vapor pressure at amelting point of the compound semiconductor is one atmospheric pressureor lower into the reaction vessel; a gas temperature adjusting deviceconfigured to keep an atmospheric temperature of the low-vapor-pressuregas at a room temperature or a temperature equal to or lower than adecomposition temperature; and a pulsed-laser irradiating deviceconfigured to irradiate a pulsed-laser light whose photon energy ishigher than a band gap of the compound semiconductor to a surface of thecompound semiconductor, thereby allowing the inner gas in the reactionvessel to be replaced with the low-vapor-pressure gas, and allowing thelow-vapor-pressure gas to flow along the surface of the compoundsemiconductor while keeping the internal pressure of the reaction vesselat a value equal to higher than the equilibrium vapor pressure, andfurther allowing the pulsed-laser light to be irradiated onto thesurface of the compound semiconductor such that only a part of thecompound semiconductor which is located at the irradiation position ofthe pulsed-laser light is melted.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the compoundsemiconductor is comprised of gallium nitride, and thelow-vapor-pressure gas comprises a gas selected from ammonia gas,hydrazine gas and mixed gas thereof.

Preferably, the pulsed-laser light is homogenized and shaped by ahomogenizer to become a shaped line beam.

Further preferably, the pulsed-laser light is irradiated onto thesurface of the compound semiconductor while transferring the compoundsemiconductor along a laser irradiation surface.

Still further preferably, rare earths and transition metal such aserbium (Er), terbium (Tb), europium (Eu) or the like is ion implantedinto the compound semiconductor.

Preferably, alkali metal such as sodium, potassium, lithium or the likeis ion implanted into the compound semiconductor.

Further preferably, a p-type impurity, an n-type impurity or p-type andn-type impurities is ion implanted into the compound semiconductor.

As described above, since the melting point of GaN is approximately2220° C. or more and the equilibrium pressure with nitrogen gas at thismelting point reaches about 6 GPa (about 60,000 atm) or more,decomposition of GaN to Ga metal and nitrogen gas takes place at a hightemperature under a low-pressure nitrogen atmosphere.

In contrast, the equilibrium vapor pressure is low in ammonia andhydrazine and the equilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point of GaN(gallium nitride) is one atmospheric pressure (it will be hereinbelowreferred to as 1 atm) or lower.

Accordingly, by using ammonia or hydrazine gas (low-vapor-pressure gas),the equilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point of the galliumnitride may be 1 atm or lower. However, since ammonia or hydrazinebegins to be decomposed to nitrogen and hydrogen at the atmospheretemperature of 300° C. or more, the low-vapor-pressure gas is decomposedwhen the compound semiconductor is heated to 300° C. or more by aheat-treating device.

Accordingly, in the present invention, only the compound semiconductorat the irradiation position of the pulsed-laser light is instantlyheated and melted while keeping the atmospheric temperature of thelow-vapor-pressure gas at a room temperature or a temperature not higherthan a decomposition temperature, so that the compound semiconductor ismelted without decomposition thereof while suppressing the decompositionof the low-vapor-pressure gas.

Accordingly, the following effects can be obtained by the method and theapparatus according to the present invention.

(1) Since the pulsed-laser light whose photon energy is higher than theband gap of the compound semiconductor is irradiated, the compoundsemiconductor can be heated to the melting point of several tens ofnanoseconds.

(2) By using the atmosphere gas (low-vapor-pressure gas) whose theequilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point is 1 atm or lower, it ispossible to configure an apparatus having a transferring system.

(3) Since the decomposition of the atmospheric gas can be suppressed byinstantly melting the compound semiconductor by the pulsed-laser light,a variation in the equilibrium vapor pressure is always reluctant tooccur.

(4) Since the pulsed-laser light is shaped to a line beam due tohomogenization by an optical system (a homogenizer) and the substrate isallowed to be transferred, it is possible to perform a process ofactivating the wafer of a large-sized substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of anactivating apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a relationship between atemperature and an equilibrium vapor pressure in several gases ofgallium nitride (GaN);

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a relationship between alaser output and a maximum arrival temperature of the surface of a thinfilm in a case where a substrate is formed of silicon;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a relationship between thetemperature and the vapor pressure of InP.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a relationship between thetemperature and the vapor pressure of GaP.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a relationship between thetemperature and the vapor pressure of GaAs.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thecommon portions of the drawings are denoted by the same referencenumerals and the duplicated description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of anactivating apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in this drawing, the activating apparatus 10 according to thepresent invention includes a reaction vessel 12, a gas supplying device14, a gas temperature adjusting device 16, a gas discharging device 18,a substrate movement device 20 and a pulsed-laser light irradiatingdevice 22.

The reaction vessel 12 is a closed vessel in which a substrate 1 havingcompound semiconductor on the surface thereof is placed under anairtight state. In the present invention, the compound semiconductor is,for example, gallium nitride (GaN). However, the present invention isnot limited thereto. The compound semiconductor may be nitride-basedsemiconductor, InP, GaP or GaAs.

The gas supplying device 14 includes a gas supplying source forsupplying low-vapor-pressure gas 2 at a predetermined pressure, apressure adjuster for adjusting the low-vapor-pressure gas 2 suppliedfrom the gas supplying source to a pressure equal to or higher than anequilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point of the compoundsemiconductor, and a flow rate adjuster for supplying thelow-vapor-pressure gas 2 at a predetermined flow rate, and supplies thelow-vapor-pressure gas 2 into the reaction vessel 12 at the pressureequal to or higher than the equilibrium vapor pressure.

In the present invention, the “low-vapor-pressure gas” indicates a gaswhose equilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point of the compoundsemiconductor is 1 atm or lower. For example, if the compoundsemiconductor is gallium nitride (GaN), the low-vapor-pressure gas 2 isammonia gas, hydrazine or mixed gas thereof.

If the compound semiconductor is the nitride-based semiconductor, InP,GaP or GaAs, the low-vapor-pressure gas whose equilibrium vapor pressureat the melting point of the compound semiconductor is 1 atm or lower isselected. The low-vapor-pressure gas suitable for InP, GaP or GaAs is,for example, PH₃ or AsH₃.

The gas temperature adjusting device 16 includes a heater provided atthe downstream side of the gas supplying device 14 and a temperaturecontroller for controlling a gas temperature of the heater, and keepsthe temperature of the atmosphere of the low-vapor-pressure gas 2supplied to the reaction vessel 12 at a room temperature or atemperature not higher than a decomposition temperature.

The gas discharging device 18 includes a discharge pump for dischargingthe gas in the reaction vessel 12 and a pressure adjuster for constantlykeeping the pressure of the gas in the reaction vessel 12, anddischarges the internal gas while constantly keeping the pressure of thegas in the reaction vessel 12. The gas discharging device 18 has avacuum pump for depressurizing the inside of the reaction vessel 12 tovacuum such that the inner gas in the reaction vessel 12 can becompletely replaced with the low-vapor-pressure gas 2.

The substrate movement device 20 includes a substrate base which can bereciprocally moved and on which the substrate 1 is mounted and a drivingdevice which is for reciprocally moving the substrate base, and movesthe substrate 1 along the surface thereof. The substrate movement device20 includes a preheater for preheating the substrate 1 such that thesubstrate 1 is heated to the temperature equal to or lower than thedecomposition temperature of the compound semiconductor and is keptheated.

The pulsed-laser light irradiating device 22 includes a laser oscillator23, a pulsed-laser light shaping optical system 24, a reflection mirror25, a condenser lens 26, and a condensing lens 27, and condenses andirradiates light onto the surface of the compound semiconductor.

The laser oscillator 23 oscillates a pulsed-laser light 3 a. Thepulsed-laser light 3 a irradiated by the laser oscillator 23 is apulsed-laser light whose band gap is higher than that of the compoundsemiconductor. The wavelength of the pulsed-laser light 3 a can beselected from an ultraviolet light to a visible light according to theband gap of the compound semiconductor.

If the compound semiconductor is GaN, InP, GaP or GaAs, for example,excimer laser light, YAG laser light, or the like may be used as thepulsed-laser light whose band gap is higher than that of the compoundsemiconductor.

The pulsed-laser light shaping optical system 24 shapes the pulsed-laserlight 3 a irradiated by the laser oscillator 23 to a uniform line beam 3b in a long-axis direction (for example, a direction orthogonal to thedrawing).

The pulsed-laser light shaping optical system 24 includes, for example,an orthogonal cylindrical array which is located orthogonally to thepulsed-laser light 3 a so as to divide the pulsed-laser light in a lineshape, a condensing lens for condensing the pulsed-laser light dividedin the line shape to a focus surface, and a first cylindrical lens forshaping the condensed pulsed-laser light to a line beam.

The orthogonal cylindrical array may be a pair of cylindrical arrayswhich are orthogonal to each other. Alternatively, a well-knownhomogenizer may be used.

A reference numeral 25 is a reflection mirror. The pulsed-laser light 3a is reflected downward by the mirror 25 and is irradiated to the uppersurface of the substrate 1 via a transparent window provided in thereaction vessel 12.

Owing to the above-described configuration, the low-vapor-pressure gas 2whose the equilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point of thecompound semiconductor is 1 atm or lower can be supplied into thereaction vessel 12, in a state where the substrate 1 is kept at atemperature (for example, about 500° C. or less), in which the compoundsemiconductor is not decomposed, by the preheater of the substratemovement device 20 in the reaction vessel 12, while keeping thetemperature of the atmosphere at the room temperature or the temperatureequal to or lower than the decomposition temperature by the gastemperature adjusting device 16.

The pulsed-laser light 3 a is shaped in the line beam 3 b in which thelong-axis direction is homogenized by the pulsed-laser light irradiatingdevice 22 such that the light is uniformly irradiated onto the surfaceof the substrate.

Using the above-described activating apparatus 10, in an activatingmethod according to the present invention,

(Step 1) the substrate 1 having the compound semiconductor on thesurface thereof is placed in the reaction vessel 12,

(Step 2) the inner gas in the reaction vessel 12 is replaced with alow-vapor-pressure gas 2 whose equilibrium vapor pressure at the meltingpoint of the compound semiconductor is 1 atm or lower,

(Step 3) the low-vapor-pressure gas 2 is urged to flow along the surfaceof the compound semiconductor while keeping the internal pressure of thereaction vessel 12 at a value not lower than that equilibrium vaporpressure, and

(Step 4) the surface of the compound semiconductor is irradiated with apulsed-laser light 3 whose photon energy is higher than the band gap ofthe compound semiconductor.

The compound semiconductor is preferably gallium nitride (GaN), but thepresent invention is not limited thereto. The compound semiconductor maybe nitride-based semiconductor, InP, GaP, or GaAs.

If the compound semiconductor is gallium nitride (GaN), thelow-vapor-pressure gas is preferably ammonia gas, hydrazine, or mixedgas thereof.

If the compound semiconductor is the nitride-based semiconductor, InP,GaP, or GaAs, the low-vapor-pressure gas whose equilibrium vaporpressure at the melting point of the compound semiconductor is 1 atm orlower is selected.

Rare earths and transition metal such as erbium (Er), terbium (Tb),europium (Eu), or the like, alkali metal such as sodium, potassium,lithium or the like or a p-type impurity, an n-type impurity, or p-typeand n-type impurities is preferably ion implanted into the compoundsemiconductor.

By the activating method according to the present invention, only thepart of the compound semiconductor which is located at the irradiationposition of the pulsed-laser light 3 is instantly heated and meltedwhile keeping the temperature of the atmosphere of thelow-vapor-pressure gas 2 at the room temperature or the temperature nothigher than the decomposition temperature.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between the temperature(horizontal axis) and the equilibrium vapor pressure (vertical axis) inthe several gases of gallium nitride (GaN). As shown in this drawing, inthe nitrogen atmosphere (a, b and c of the drawing), the equilibriumvapor pressure becomes 1 atm at about 1200° C. and becomes several tensof thousands of atm at the melting point of about 2500° C. In addition,a, b, and c of the drawing is based on other research report in thenitrogen atmosphere.

Meanwhile, in ammonia d and hydrazine e, the equilibrium vapor pressureis low (about 10⁻² atm at 1200° C.) and the equilibrium vapor pressureat the melting point is 1 atm or lower.

Accordingly, it can be seen from this drawing that the equilibrium vaporpressure at the melting point of gallium nitride becomes 1 atm or lessby using ammonia or hydrazine as the low-vapor-pressure gas.

However, since decompression to nitrogen and hydrogen is started at anatmosphere temperature not lower than 300° C. in ammonia or hydrazine,the low-vapor-pressure gas is decompressed at the time of heating of theheating device.

Accordingly, in the present invention, by irradiating the pulsed-laserlight 3 whose photon energy is higher than the band gap of the compoundsemiconductor, only the semiconductor is instantly heated from the roomtemperature to the melting point while keeping the temperature of theatmosphere of the low-vapor-pressure gas 2 at the room temperature orthe temperature not higher than the decomposition temperature.Accordingly, the semiconductor can be melted without decompressing thelow-vapor-pressure gas 2 such as ammonia and the activity of thecompound semiconductor can be improved by slowly and gradually coolingthe molten liquid.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a laser output(horizontal axis) and a maximum arrival temperature (vertical axis) whenthe substrate is formed of silicon, which is obtained by heat analysis.As a result, in the laser output (10 W or more) in which the Raman halfbandwidth of the thin film is 4.16 cm⁻¹, it is judged that silicon ismelted and recrystallized by the laser at the melting point (about 1414°C.) of silicon or more.

From this experimental result, it is confirmed that a heating process isperformed to a temperature exceeding the melting point of thesemiconductor wafer using the pulsed-laser light and the semiconductorthin film is crystallized such that the semiconductor wafer is meltedand recrystallized so as to improve crystal quality. In the presentinvention, this means is applied to compound semiconductor other thansilicon.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between the temperature andthe vapor pressure of InP. In this drawing, a horizontal axis is 1000/T(T is a temperature K), a vertical axis is the vapor pressure (atm), andtwo curves in the drawing represent the relationship in the differentmolecular structures.

The melting point of InP is 1333 K and corresponds to 0.75 in thehorizontal axis of this drawing, and the vapor pressure thereof isgenerally 2 to 10 atm.

Even in such a case, in the present invention, since thelow-vapor-pressure gas whose the equilibrium vapor pressure at themelting point of the compound semiconductor is 1 atm or lower isselected, only the part of the compound semiconductor which is locatedat the pulsed-laser light irradiation position is instantly heated andmelted while keeping the temperature of the low-vapor-pressure gasatmosphere at the room temperature or a temperature equal to or lowerthan the decomposition temperature and the molten liquid is slowlycooled, such that the activity of the compound semiconductor can beimproved.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between the temperature andthe vapor pressure of GaP, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing arelationship between the temperature and the vapor pressure of GaAs.

The melting point of GaP is 1457° C. and corresponds to 0.6 in theabscissa of FIG. 5, and the vapor pressure thereof is generallyapproximately 10 atm. The melting point of GaAs is 1240° C. andcorresponds to 0.6 in the abscissa of FIG. 6, and the vapor pressurethereof is generally about 1.05 atm (800 torr).

Even in these compound semiconductors, when the low-vapor-pressure gas(for example, PH₃) whose the equilibrium vapor pressure at the meltingpoint of the compound semiconductor is 1 atm or lower is selected, bythe present invention, only the part of the compound semiconductor whichis located at the pulsed-laser light irradiation position is instantlyheated and melted while keeping the temperature of atmosphere of thelow-vapor-pressure gas 2 at the room temperature or the temperatureequal to or lower than the decomposition temperature and the moltenliquid is slowly and gradually cooled, such that the activity of thecompound semiconductor can be improved.

In the (Step 4), it is preferable that the pulsed-laser light 3 isdirectly irradiated to the compound semiconductor on the surface of thesubstrate 1. If the substrate is transparent, the pulsed-laser light maybe irradiated from the side of the transparent substrate.

Here, by directly irradiating the pulsed-laser light 3 to the compoundsemiconductor on the substrate 1, only the compound semiconductor can belocally heated and the irradiation time of the pulsed-laser light 3until only the compound semiconductor is heated and melted can beextremely shortened.

As described above, in the present invention, the pulsed-laser light 3whose band gap in which the equilibrium vapor pressure at the meltingpoint significantly exceeding 1 atm is higher than that of the compoundsemiconductor is irradiated and, in the low-vapor-pressure gas 2 inwhich the equilibrium vapor pressure at the melting point is lower than1 atm and at the room temperature or a temperature not higher than atemperature in which the decompression of the low-vapor pressure gas isstarted, the compound semiconductor can be melted without decompressionand thus re-growth and activation can be realized.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodimentand may be variously modified without departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

1. (canceled)
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. (canceled) 6.(canceled)
 7. (canceled)
 8. An apparatus for activating a compoundsemiconductor, comprising: a reaction vessel configured to receivetherein the compound semiconductor under an airtight state; a gassupplying device configured to supply low-vapor-pressure gas whoseequilibrium vapor pressure at a melting point of the compoundsemiconductor is one atmospheric pressure or lower into the reactionvessel; a gas temperature adjusting device configured to keep anatmospheric temperature of the low-vapor-pressure gas at a roomtemperature equal to or lower than a decompression temperature; and apulsed-laser irradiating device configured to irradiate a pulsed-laserlight whose photon energy is higher than a band gap of the compoundsemiconductor to a surface of the compound semiconductor, therebypermitting the inner gas in the reaction vessel to be replaced with thelow-vapor-pressure gas, and allowing the low-vapor-pressure gas to flowalong the surface of the compound semiconductor while keeping theinternal pressure of the reaction vessel at a value not lower than theequilibrium vapor pressure, and further allowing the pulsed-laser lightto be irradiated onto the surface of the compound semiconductor suchthat only a part of the compound semiconductor located at theirradiation position of the pulsed-laser light is melted.